PCAOB

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board imposed a $30,000 civil penalty against K.R. Margetson and its sole partner for quality control violations and revoked his firm's registration for a year.

These are the first sanctions ever against a firm over independence violations because it's a member of an alliance where another firm did work for the same client.

It also imposed $150,000 in fines, for failures of independence and professional skepticism, and for not cooperating with a board investigation.

The suggestions in board chair Erica William's recent Wall Street Journal op-ed could have troubling ramifications for auditors and their clients.

The board continues its aggressive approach to oversight, announcing several hundreds of thousands of dollars in penalties on several auditors in a single week.

The board saw high rates of deficiency last year, with little to no improvement over prior years.

Several prominent trade groups are objecting to the board's proposed changes in auditing standards related to noncompliance with laws and regulations.

The board is looking for nominations for new members of its Investor Advisory Group and its Standards and Emerging Issues Advisory Group.

The Center for Audit Quality is working to convince the board to water down a proposed update telling auditors to be on the lookout for fraud and other signs of noncompliance.

The board disciplined five auditing firms for violating its rules and standards when communicating with audit committees.